Wire or conduit clip



April 12,1949. F. H. RICE 'WI-RE OR CONDUIT CLIP Filed July 4, 1944 Patented Apr. 12, 1949 y UNITED vSTATES PATENT OFFICE WIRE R CONDUIT CLIP Frederick Henry Rice, Hollywood, Calif., assigner,

by mesne assignments, to T innerman Products,

Inc., Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation o! Ohio Application July 4, 1944, Serial No. 543,452

1 Claim.

past or adjacent which the wires or conduits ,I

are extended.

It is the primary object of this invention to provide a clip of the character discribed which is comparatively light, simple as to construction, may bequickly and easily applied to and removed from wires or conduits before or after being fastened to a support such as the frame structure of an aircraft, and may be locked around the wires or conduits before or after fastening the clip on the support. 4

Another 'object of my invention is to provide a clip such as described in which a locking hook is struck out as a spring tonguefrom a part of the metal strap body of the clip at a point spaced inwardly of a fastening-receiving opening formed in one end of the clip, for hooking the other end of the clip, to lock it around the wires or conduits before or after the clip is fastened to a support, the hook and said other end being constructed and arranged so that on bringing the ends of the clip together to embrace the wires or a conduit, the hook may be readily and easily hooked into any one of several openings whereby the clip may be clamped around bundles of wires or conduits of different diameters.

A further object of my invention is to provide a clip of the character described in which the ends thereof may be securely locked together against accidental release, upon the movement of the end having the hook-receiving opening therein under the hook and releasing said end whereby it will snap outwardly and become hooked to said hook.

With the foregoing objects in view, together with such other objects and advantages as may subsequently appear, the invention resides in the parts and in the combination, construction and arrangement of parts hereinafter described and claimed, and illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a clip embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the clip as installed with a portion broken away and shown in section;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the clip with a cushion mounted thereon;

Fig. 4 is a side elevational and part sectional view of the cushioned clip as when locked around an object to be supported;

Fig. 5 is a cross sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4.

2 With particular reference to the accompanying drawing, it will be seen that my invention resides in the provision of a clip made of a spring metal strap formed into an open loop 8 for embracing or"a`j`oduit Ilsliown infdashed "lines in" 4', in order to support the same on a structural member or support 9 as shown in dashed lines in Fig. 2. A fastening I0 and a nut II are employed to secure the clip to the support, the fastening I0 being inserted through an opening I2 formed in an 'outwardly extended end I3 of the strap.l This end is substantially straight and coplanar with a straight portion i4 of the loop so that with said straight portion there is provided a long and effective seat against the support.

In accordance with my invention a tongue-like hook I5 is struck out from the straight portion Il' so as to extend toward the other end I6 of the loop, said hook extending substantially at right angles to the end I3 and portion Il, from a point which is the juncture of the latter with end I3, so as to lie inwardly spaced from the opening I2 whereby the fastening I0 may be installed, manipulated and removed as desired and moreover, the loop may be locked in closed position and released and opened when the clip is fastened in place.

The shank of the hook I5 is relatively long and the bill is turned inwardly so that when the end I6 is brought underneath the hook as in closing and clamping the loop around the wires or the conduit the hook may be hooked into one of a series of openings or slots I'I in the end I6 thereby locking the loop in clamped relation to the wires or conduit. The several openings I1 spaced apart as here shown make it possible to effectively clamp and support wire bundles and conduits of diiferent diameters.

One of the advantages of the hook I5 and end I6 as here constructed and arranged is that in the operation of closing the loop by forcing end I6 under the hook I5, the locking of the loop in conduit or wire embracing position will be substantially automatically effected upon releasing end I6 which will then spring outwardly so that the bill of the hook will extend through the selected one of the several openings II, the length of the body portion of the hook being suilicient to overlie a plurality of said openings.

It should be noted that the hook I5 becomes a part of the conduit or wire embracing loop when the end I6 is hooked thereto as shown in Figs. 2 and 4 and that as it is relatively long and resilient and overlies the end Il, a tensioned engagement of said end and the hook is brought about and said endis securely held against being accidentally unhooked, any internal expanding force on the loop tending to force the end i8 and hook l5 closer together. However, the end II may be readily released by depressing it and pushing it slightly forwardly toward the portion Il free of the bill 0f the hook.

As shown in Figs. 3, 4 and 5, I'may use a cushion strip i8 of rubber or the like having rebent anges I9 to hold it on the loop and provided with tubular cushioning ribs 20 as seats for the wires or conduit. As here shown the hook I5 is narrower than the space between the ilanges II so that it will lie therebetween in hooked engagement with the end I0 as shown inv Fig. 4. The resiliency of this cushion tends to force more firmly against the hook that end of the clip which is furnished with the locking openings I1.

It is important to note that the hook II is struck outwardly from the portion Il intermediate the longitudinal edges thereof and its formation requires no extra material in an ordinary fiat strap metal loop or no folds or bends, whereby the clip hereof requires less material and is lighter than clips that have rebent portions or marginal extension of a rectangular and iiat strap. Moreover, this hook having a long flat shank affords an effective seat for end Il which contacts under tension the inner surface of the shank. Thus the shank of the hook and the end il overlapped thereby, bridge the gap of and close the loop as a strong doubled loop portion preventing accidental opening of the loop, and making it possible to make the hook of less than half the width of the strap with the side or longitudinal edges of the hook equidistantly inwardly spaced from the corresponding adjacent margins of the portion I4 of the strap.

While I have shown and described a specic embodiment ci my invention I do not limit my self to the exact details of construction set forth. and the invention embraces such changes, modifications and equivalents of the parts and their formation and arrangement as come within the purview of the appended claim.

I claim:

In a clip for supporting wires for a conduit, a resilient strap formed into an open loop for embracing wires or a conduit and having one end extended beyond the other end and provided with an opening for reception of a. fastening for securing the clip to a support, and a hook struck outwardly from the strap at a point spaced inwardly from the Aopening and extending toward said other end with its bill turned inwardly toward the space within the loop, said other end having a hook receiving opening therein being movable n to a' position to have tensioned contact with the inner surface of the shank of the hook and to hook the bill of the hook in said hook receiving opening, and a resilient cushioning strip mounted in said loop and having rebent flanges overlying g5 the outer surface of the loop and having a pair of hollow ribs extending along the marginal edges thereof and on the inner side of the loop.

FREDERICK HENRY RICE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Morehouse July 4, 1944 

